


Ensouled

by myth_taken



Series: Tara is Alive, Well, and in Love with Fred Burkle [4]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 07:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11053995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myth_taken/pseuds/myth_taken
Summary: Tara didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Willow until after the spell had been done. Although they spent a few hours working together, there were a lot of logistics, some awkward spell-related hand-holding, and a lot of rushed research, which did not leave time for an “I-broke-up-with-you-and-now-I’m-dating-someone-else-but-I-still-love-you” talk.--Willow comes to Angel Investigations to help with a spell. In the same series as Preferences-- you might want to read that first. Buffyverse Femslash Week Day 4: Crossover





	Ensouled

**Author's Note:**

> So... this whole series is essentially a rewrite of my Denial 101 series, which, honestly, I'm okay with. Denialverse had some writing that I didn't quite like, and I've fixed the plot issues here. If you need context, basically, Tara fled to LA after she broke up with Willow, she meant for it to be just a short break from Sunnydale, but she really liked working with Angel Investigations, and she also really liked Fred. I'm going to continue this series-- the end goal is Willow/Tara/Fred being happy together because I love them all and they also definitely are all in love with each other.

“Someone’s going to have to put his soul back in,” Fred said. She and Tara were sitting in the hotel, waiting for the gang to get back with an unconscious Angel.

“That’s a powerful spell,” Tara said. “I think I can do it, but if something went wrong, I don't know if the rest of you would be able to fix it without me.”

“What if we called in Willow?” Fred asked. “Isn’t she supposed to be all better now?”

“I don’t know,” Tara said. “I haven’t seen her since-- since everything went wrong.”

“Well, it’s not like the rest of us have enough power to back you up,” Fred said. “I mean, I try, but Willow’s the real power.”

“The spell to re-ensoul Angel was the first one she ever did,” Tara said. “She has a lot of raw talent.”

“Do you want to call her?” Fred asked.

Tara hesitated. “Will you do it? I don’t want her to come because of me.”

Fred nodded. “I can do that.” She went to sit at the front desk, Tara standing beside her. Tara recited the number for Buffy’s house in Sunnydale. She hadn’t called in a while; the last time she had tried, the phone had been answered by a girl she didn’t know but who seemed to know her, and there was too much background noise, and Buffy had turned out to be out anyway. Fred seemed to fare better. Willow probably left the house less than Buffy did, Tara realized. 

“Hello?” Fred said. “Hello, yes, this is Fred Burkle with Angel Investigations. Is Willow there?”

Tara couldn’t quite hear what was going on on the other end, but there was no way in the world that she wouldn’t have recognized Willow’s voice the instant Willow got to the phone.

“Hi,” Fred said. “Yes, I work with Angel. There’s, um-- we kind of took away his soul to help us with a plan, and now we’re having some trouble putting it back in? Anyway, I know you’ve done it before, so I thought you might be good backup in case our spell goes wrong.” A moment of silence. “Yes. Okay.” A nod. “I’ve been doing a lot of research, but I’m not sure about it. I’m not really a witch.” Here, Fred glanced sideways at Tara. “Yes, yes, we have a witch, but she thinks we need backup, and, well, you’ve done the whole soul thing before. And do you know about Angel’s son?”  A pause. “No, it’s not. But he’s here. I know you’re dealing with a lot, but do you think you can make it?” Another pause. “All right. I look forward to meeting you! Bye!” Fred put down the phone and turned to Tara. “She’ll be here in a few hours.”

Tara nodded, then looked at Fred. “Oh, God. What do I say to her?”

“Do you still love her?” Fred asked.

Tara looked at Fred. They had been dating for almost a year now. Tara loved Fred. But… she also loved Willow, or at least her memory of Willow. Willow without the magic addiction. 

“Yes,” she said. “I think so. I don’t know if she’s the same now, but I don’t think I can stop loving her.”

Fred reached for her hand. “That’s okay. That just means you have a lot of love, if you can give it to more than one person. And anyway, that means you can tell me all about her.”

Tara smiled and sat in the chair next to Fred’s. “I don’t know what to tell. I think you’ll like her, though. She’s-- she likes computers. She does science. She says she’s a dog person, but she loved our cat.”

“You had a cat?” Fred asked. 

“Yeah. We called her Miss Kitty Fantastico,” Tara said. “She kind of didn’t do too great with the crossbow, though.”

“Oh, that’s so sad,” Fred said. 

“No, she didn’t die,” Tara corrected. “We were at Buffy’s house, you know, the summer she died? And Miss Kitty set it off and hit a window, and then we gave her to our friend who’d been looking for a cat and who didn’t have nearly as many weapons.”

“That sounds nice,” Fred said. “I always wanted a cat.”

“Maybe we can get one,” Tara said. She stood up. “If we’re waiting, we should probably research the spell. Want to get some books?”

Fred nodded and let Tara lead her to the library. Tara picked through the shelves, handing Fred the volumes that were most likely to help. 

“We have to get his soul out of the jar first, right?” Tara asked.

“It would be easier if we knew where the jar was,” Fred said. 

“I wish it were easier,” Tara said. “I think that’s all the books I’m going to find.” She turned and looked at the huge stack in Fred’s arms. “Oh. That’s a lot of books. Sorry.”

Fred’s smile split her face right open. “It’s fine. I like reading.”

Tara leaned over the stack of books to give Fred a quick kiss before taking half the stack. “Let’s go back to the desk.”

“Okay,” Fred agreed. She led the way out to the desk. After she had put down her stack, she sat and asked, “What am I looking for?”

“Anything about souls,” Tara said. “Or breaking jars.”

“Okay,” Fred said. She took the top book off of her stack. Tara did the same.

Two hours later, they had found very little, and they hadn’t searched anywhere near all the books. Fred closed hers and turned to Tara. “We won’t get through this in time,” she said. 

Tara looked up. “We have to try. For Angel.”

“Do you really think we’ll find something?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know,” Tara said. “I guess we can wait for Willow. She might have something. She’s studied in England.”

Fred looked at Tara. “Are you worried about seeing her again?”

Tara looked down and nodded. “I don’t-- I don’t know if she’ll like me anymore.”

Fred reached for Tara’s hand. “She’ll like you. She has to like you. She liked you before, and I can tell you that you’re still pretty darn likeable.”

Tara looked back up at Fred. “Thanks. I hope you like her.” She felt a little bit of a smile on her lips. “She’ll understand the things you say about science.”

“And you’ll help me meet her?” Fred asked. 

Tara nodded. “If there’s anyone I can talk to, it’s Willow. Even Willow who I haven’t seen in a year.”

“Even if she doesn’t know you’re here?”

“I think so,” Tara said.

Fred grinned. “I’m glad you get to see her again.”

“I was going to go back to Sunnydale,” Tara confessed. “When she started getting better. But I like the work here.”

“Not to mention the cute scientist, right?” Fred asked.

“She’s definitely also a factor,” Tara agreed, leaning in to kiss Fred. Fred pulled her closer, and Tara smiled into the kiss. Whatever happened with Willow, she was lucky to have Fred.

Just then, the door banged open, and Tara and Fred jumped apart. Gunn stumbled through, carrying Angelus, yelling for Connor, and Wesley came after, hauling Faith, and suddenly the lobby was a whirlwind of chains and bandages and confusion. Tara lost track of time, and before she knew it, she was sitting with Fred and debating with Connor and Wesley at the front desk, and the hotel door was opening. Tara was the only one who saw, at first; Fred was too busy arguing, and Tara was the only other person expecting a visitor.

Willow was standing in the doorway, staring right at the desk. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but, finally, she took a step forward and said, “Tara?”

Tara fidgeted in her chair. She smiled, then she shrugged, and finally Fred realized what was happening and pushed her out of her chair, hissing, “Go talk to her!”

“It’s me,” Tara said, walking towards Willow. “Sorry, we just-- we didn’t want to make you expect anything in coming here.”

Willow nodded. “Can I-- can I hug you? Is that okay?”

Tara nodded back, and Willow pulled her into a hug just like what she remembered, all warm and safe with Willow’s hair tickling her shoulder. Willow’s hair had gotten a lot longer than it had been before, too. She was different. 

Tara stepped back. “Um. Everyone’s kind of dealing with some stuff. But you can meet Fred.”

Willow nodded and turned to Fred, Wesley, and Connor. As she walked to the desk, she started speaking. “Sorry. I meant to come in with a lot more poise. I was going to insert myself into your conversation in a way that was surprising and suave.”

“Sorry,” Tara said. “I didn’t mean to ruin your poise.”

“I’ll get over it,” Willow said. She had come up to Connor. “This is Angel’s son?”

“I have a name,” Connor said. “It’s Connor.” 

“Right. Connor.”

Fred stood up. “Hi, Willow.”

“Fred?” Willow asked, stepping closer. “Hi! It’s good to meet you, you know, in person.”

“Is there some sort of magic calling you here?” Wesley asked.

“Wesley!” Willow looked him up and down. “You’ve come into your own a little bit. Not so floppy anymore. And no, no magic. Just Fred.” Willow grinned at Fred.

“I see.” Wesley looked from Fred to Willow. “The only living person known to ensoul a vampire. Nice thinking, Fred.”

“I just thought that maybe she could offer a fresh perspective,” Fred said. 

“Can we start?” Willow asked. “Where’s Cordy?”

Tara didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Willow until after the spell had been done. Although they spent a few hours working together, there were a lot of logistics, some awkward spell-related hand-holding, and a lot of rushed research, which did not leave time for an “I-broke-up-with-you-and-now-I’m-dating-someone-else-but-I-still-love-you” talk.

Afterwards, Fred kept coming back with more and more books, and Willow couldn’t hold them all, and finally, Tara asked, “Do you think it would be okay if we came back with you? I miss the gang, and Fred could really help with-- with the books and stuff.”

Willow looked taken-aback.. “You should know,” she said, “I’m seeing someone.”

Tara glanced at Fred. “Me, too. I just-- I really think we could be helpful. You might need another witch.”

“Okay,” Willow said. “I mean, understand we’re sort of strapped for bedspace. Lots of little future Slayers.”

“Do you want to go to Sunnydale, Fred?” Tara asked. 

Fred nodded. “The Hellmouth thing sounds fascinating. I’ve read all sorts about Hellmouths, but I’ve never been to one. Do you think they’re really the cause of most earthquakes?”

“The only ones I’ve lived through,” Willow sighed. “Come on, let’s load up. You guys want to bring any clothes?”

“I have a bag,” Tara said. “I never-- I always thought I was going to leave again. So I kept a bag packed.”

“You also left some stuff at Buffy’s house,” Willow said. “And we have a stash, anyway, for Potentials who came without their stuff.”

“I’ll get your bag, Tara,” Fred said. “I have to pack some stuff if I’m really going to leave.”

“Okay,” Tara said. Fred dropped her books and ran off. Faith ambled in. 

“We going soon?” she asked.

“As soon as Fred gets some stuff,” Willow said. “She and Tara are coming back to Sunnydale to help.”

“Sounds cool,” Faith said. “Like a family reunion, right, Tara? Everyone back together or whatever?”

Tara smiled. “I’ve missed Dawnie.”

“Right, the little wannabe," Faith said. "How’s she been?”

“She’s less of a wannabe now,” Willow said. “She can do some hardcore research.”

“I’m glad,” Tara said. “I still worry about her.”

Fred came running back, now carrying Tara’s bag in one hand and a blue suitcase in the other. “I didn’t get everything,” she said, “but I think this is enough.”

Goodbyes were said, hugs were had, and finally, Fred, Tara, Faith, and Willow piled into the car, waving to the hotel.

“So, who’s your girlfriend?” Tara asked Willow, leaning forward in her seat. Faith had taken shotgun, which Tara was secretly glad of.

“She’s a Potential,” Willow said. “Her name’s Kennedy.”

“That’s a good name,” Fred said. “I had a fish named Kennedy once. Not because of the president. I just thought it was a good name.”

“She cute?” Faith asked.

“Well, I think so,” Willow said. “She kind of took me by surprise.”

“Cute girls kind of do that,” Fred said.

“I saw you and Tara looking at each other,” Willow answered. “Treat her right, okay?”

“I do my best,” Fred blushed. She reached for Tara’s hand across the seat. “She’s sure special.”

“You guys want to listen to some music?” Faith asked, already reaching for the dial. “I can’t keep listening to this sap.”

Fred giggled, Tara smiled, and Willow just kept driving, nothing ahead of them but the crowded highway.


End file.
